Wednesday, September 21

Life in brief.

What, you may ask, has been keeping me from this ole blog? A little of this and a little of that:

- I'm currently taking 4 classes, wrapping up work from my summer reading course, and auditing 1 class that meets 5 times a week. Two of these classes are film courses (i.e., homework involves reading plus watching movies), one is a class on the Book of Job held at our local maximum-security prison (i.e., half the students are from Vanderbilt and the other half are from Riverbend), and one is a class on women, psychology, and religion (we're clipping along at about a book/week). Lots and lots of coffee-drinking in these parts.

 - When do I find time to earn my keep? Not only do I work at the library two nights each week...


I picked up a morning gig at the Robert Penn Warren Center. I will confess that I have a weakness for working in historic homes previously occupied by wealthy families, and that, combined with the Warren Center's amazing programming lineup, pretty much convinced me it would be unwise to not work there. Finger on the pulse, folks.

- I am still sans auto in Nashville, so I take my daily exercise up and down hill, with the breeze and in the sunshine. Fortunately there hasn't been an overabundance of sunshine during the last few weeks: given the hills, I prefer cool and rainy days to humidity and oppressive heat.






- PhD program application season is upon us, so when I'm not occupied with all of the above, I'm busy pulling together papers and essays and asking professors to write letters of recommendation. Basically I'm doing everything I can to make my dream life come true.


- This is not to say that it's been all work and no play. I've found time to participate in multiple potlucks, see a few non-class-related movies, and attend the National Folk Festival:



I'm trying to talk Bryan into getting matching Hawaiian 
shirts and straw hats for us. Wouldn't that be tres chic?

I also spotted my dream home:




And I scored some fresh tumeric (!) in the farmers' market. I know, I know, this is not local at all, but since I so rarely see this stuff I couldn't resist. 

 
And best of all, Bryan is coming tomorrow for a long weekend!  Hooray!

Sunday, September 18

On a hobby-life.

What with all my working hours now totally filled, I'm starting to feel like my hobbies are all being neglected. But indeed my interests are still budding (pun very intended), and one that I've been playing with for a little while now is terrarium-building. 

I started with moss from the woods, and some died and some lived depending on where I placed them and whether I left the lid on or not. So, it turns out that leaving the lid off is best (really, is it a big surprise that a plant living in the PA woods would not like being sealed up in a glass jar in the sun?). For my birthday I got a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, and planted that in a neat glass jar, and a few weeks later my parents bought me a succulent plant, Echeveria, that I wedged into an old cookie jar. It must like it in there, because it sent out a flower stalk and is blooming like crazy. Just today as I was  buying a dehumidifier for the basement (boo!), I saw little Venus flytraps for only a couple dollars and picked one up to put in with the pitcher plant.

The other, dare I say, hobby that I dabble in from time to time is photography. Now, I say that knowing full well that I'm not a photographer,but  I just enjoy it and like playing with it from time to time. I also know that it's complete heresy that the majority of my photos are from my iPhone, but what is better than always having a camera in your pocket? The other point of heresy is that the photos below were all taken with the instagram app, which seems to be all over the interwebs these days:




Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)


Moss (don't know the species)


Will you look at that. So nice.


My little blooming beauty (Echeveria x "Topsy Turvy")

I also really want to learn how to/start pruning Japanese maples and evergreens in the Japanese pruning style method, Niwaki. Imagine Bonsai type trees but larger and in the ground. Some forms are called cloud pruning, but many others have Japanese names with no direct English translation.They are generally pruned heavily to make them look like older trees in specific locations (i.e., on a cliff, mountain top, or riverside). Not many people do this type of pruning because it is very labor-intensive, but there are small groups of people that enjoy it. I am thinking of going to the local Bonsai Club monthly meeting to ask around if they know of anyone that prunes trees in this method in the hopes I can tag along and learn a few things.

As a side note, I'm also thinking about applying to the Longwood Garden graduate program in Horticulture. They only choose 5-6 people a year for a fully-funded two-year program through the University of Delaware. I have a friend that is in the program now, and I've been reading the bios of the other students. Wow: they are all ridiculously amazing individuals that have amazing resumes and make applying really intimidating. 

But here's to hobbies, optimism, acceptance to graduate programs, and a better economy so that we can all have jobs we enjoy.

Saturday, September 10

Oh, economy.

This is more of a thinking-out-loud exercise, so bear with me as I do this.

I recently left my job as an arborist with Preservation Tree. I liked the job but wasn't getting as many hours as I would have liked, and with the winter quickly approaching (read: slow pruning season) I felt the need to jump ship to get in as many 40-hour weeks as I could. So I am now with another tree care company, which is fine.

The hard part is that my previous employer is very safe and has very high standards for tree care, where my current employer has slightly lower standards for both -- but does have months' worth of 40-hour weeks scheduled. So here I am compromising my standards (and possible safety) for a more consistent paycheck. What has the world come to? Here I sit, as I'm sure many other people in the U.S. and around the world are right now, not totally happy with my job but needing a steady paycheck, and a lot of people don't even have that right now.

The Morris Arboretum where I was an intern last year found me pruning trees, taking tree-care classes, teaching tree care to volunteers and members, visiting other arboreta, etc. My brain was stimulated, my body was tired, and I got to commute by bike every day. Life was good. Ever since then, the commercial tree-care world is only making me tired every day, and all the other things are gone. The other sad thing for me as a potential arborist is that I mostly enjoy ornamental pruning and tree health analysis, and I don't have a whole lot of interest in the tree work that most people need/want (like removing huge dead trees that are hanging over a $500,000 home).

Anyhow, taking these cues that I'm not very interested in the adrenaline rush/risky tree care business and missing the academic/education side of tree care, I think I will follow that and keep my ears open for opportunities to return to the environmental education field. My 9 years at a nature center and 2 years in Haiti (which was mostly an education position) all have me wired to enjoy sharing my knowledge about the environment. So, until I find that opportunity I'll be hanging out with the trees, hoping the economy rebounds, and looking for greener pastures.

Thanks for letting me vent -- and feel free to let me know of any education positions open!